New aspect to Thai arrest of ‘sex training’ Russians

When police in Thailand arrested 10 Russian citizens for allegedly organising a “sex training” course in a hotel in Pattaya, it seemed an odd but minor story – until one of the accused suddenly made startling allegations about Donald Trump’s election.

Police rounded up 43 Russian tourists, both men and women, when they raided the hotel after staff at the property reported hearing strange sounds. Thai media said many participants were wearing T-shirts reading “sex animator” with a downward-pointing arrow.

There’s news footage of the arrest and the T-shirts below. It helps if you understand Thai but it’s easy enough to follow if you don’t.

Police interrogated and released participants in the so-called sex-training clinic, but they detained 10 alleged Russian instructors, who were charged with working without permission, entering Thailand without passports or overstaying visas. They face fines of up to AUD 3860 and deportation back to Russia, according to Russian language news sources.

One of those arrested was Anastasia Vashukevich, a 21-year-old woman – who now says she has a story to tell involving the Kremlin, Russian billionaires and alleged Russian ties to Donald Trump’s election campaign.

She is offering to spill the beans in exchange for political asylum in the US, according to CNN. Trump has repeatedly denied that he colluded with Russia to influence the US election.

Vashukevich, known for her striking selfies and self-promotion, hit headlines in Russia before her detention in Thailand, amid political intrigue over claims she was having an affair with a Russian billionaire.

Welcome to Destination Thailand News, a free news service, which allows travel sellers to have the Thailand's tourism news at their fingertips. Destination Thailand News is fast becoming one of the most respected tourism news services – now with nearly 87,000 online subscribers – it is equally influencing and strengthening destination and product awareness in all aspects of the industry’s core business sectors.